Founded in 2014, Yacht Harbour has now gone through nearly 3 years of rapid growth, packed with milestones and interesting events. In this list are 11 things about Yacht Harbour that are not widely known, but we thought were interesting enough to share.
#1 Yacht Harbour started as an Instagram channel
Even though Yacht Harbour's initial plan was to build a web platform for a marketplace of yachts for sale, the company started an Instagram account in August 2014 to get some sort of traction, ahead of the launch of its website in December of that year.
At a time when no yachting media companies were on the platform, the strategy proved successful and saw Yacht Harbour get to 10,000 followers in under 4 months. This, in turn, proved instrumental to getting the first users to Yacht Harbour.
#2 We power instant results for a Top 5 search engine
Another little known fact about Yacht Harbour is that the company's index powers an instant result snippet for search engine, DuckDuckGo. One of the 5 available search settings on an iPhone, DuckDuckGo is a search engine built with privacy in mind.
Any user searching for a particular yacht on the platform, will see on top of search results an image of the yacht with it's main specifications, which DuckDuckGo displays using an API built by Yacht Harbour on top of its database for the search engine.
#3 News coverage was first meant as a content marketing play
Even though our audience is now spread evenly across its superyacht marketplace and its news section, Yacht Harbour's editorial coverage was started only in October 2015 to act as a content marketing vehicle for its search platform.
Despite these plans, news coverage rapidly evolved and grew to serve the purposes of a true media company, which Yacht Harbour has since become. Stories broken by our news department are now often used as sources by international media such as the BBC, CNBC and others.
#4 We built a chat bot to answer any yachting question
Developed in a wave of growing excitement over chat bots, Brook became the first chat bot in yachting that used a combination of machine learning, natural language recognition and big data to answer any question related to yacht.
Although Brook was since retired due to a lack of users, Yacht Harbour did manage to build a working version, answering over 80% of asked questions. Its original interface can still be seen here. When live it was even accessible from the Telegram messaging platform.
#5 Our content can be found on Forbes and Business Insider
As part of its content distribution strategy, Yacht Harbour struck deals with Business Insider to distribute part of its English-language content and to contribute stories to the French and Russian versions of Forbes.
With news stories around yachting and articles trying to open up the field to a more general audience, this content was read over 2 million times so far in 2017.
#6 We ran a crowdfunding campaign in our first year
Far from today's peak of attention around ICOs, Yacht Harbour ran a crowdfunding campaign in 2015 as an experiment, ahead of the launch of its charter marketplace to offer heavily discounted deals and lifetime advantages for participants.
Through the campaign, Yacht Harbour raised just under $3,000 from a series of contributors. The value of some the items offered then by Yacht Harbour has grown over 1,000x today.
#7 We get 10 million impressions of our content every month
Having rapidly grown from the 23 visitors Yacht Harbour on the day of it's launch, the company's combined channels now reach over 10 million impressions every month. This figure includes Yacht Harbour's website traffic, social media reach and audience on third-party platforms.
#8 There are sometimes easter eggs on Yacht Harbour
Sometimes overtaken by the holiday spirit, Yacht Harbour's homepage can sometimes change to adopt a special skin for limited times as seen above. So far, the company has dressed up its website for Halloween, Christmas and New Year's Eve but other events may soon be coming.
#9 One million minutes are spent watching Yacht Harbour's videos monthly
Playing an increasingly important role for any media company, videos have been a key to Yacht Harbour's success as well with over 800 days worth of videos being watched on our platform every month. The latest Black Pearl video alone reached over 3 million impressions on our network.
#10 Our Facebook page outranks its nearest competition 10 to 1
Owing much of its success to social media, Yacht Harbour has always tried to dominate the space in the superyacht sector and Facebook is currently the most reflective of this paradigm. Whereas Yacht Harbour gets 36,500 engagements on its page every week, the nearest competition currently sits at 3,300 engagements per week.
#11 It took us over 20,000 hours to build the Timeline platform
A major step forward in yacht search, Yacht Harbour's Timeline platform was launched in May 2017 after over 20,000 hours of research. The platform, compared to a Bloomberg terminal for yachting, lets its subscribers track the market in real time, discover the story behind any yacht and find the best deals on the market with big data.
Photos by Julien Hubert
Introducing Naseem (2008) - a classically elegant 47m motor yacht by Heesen Yachts, which combines award-winning design by the acknowledged Bannenberg & Rowell Design Studio and unmistakable Dutch prestige. Delivered in 2008 and beautifully maintained by her present owner, the superyacht was fully refurbished in 2018 with a major focus on outdoor activities. NASEEM is equipped with 5 cabins and can accommodate on board up to 12 guests in utmost comfort, as well as a 10-person crew. Among her key features there are a Deck Jacuzzi and a convertible tender garage which can be used as a beach club for swimming and sunbathing or as a launchpad when using water toys. The yacht is powered by twin MTU 8V4000M70 heavy-duty engines and has a comfortable 14-knot cruising speed. With an impressive range of 4,000 nautical miles, she is suitable for Transatlantic cruising. The interior of the yacht is open-planned and is finished with bleached Wenge wood and polished marble flooring. The sense of space and light is enhanced by large windows.A vast salon on the main deck offers an open-plan lounge with an elegant bar for pre-dinner cocktails. It is also equipped with a 60” plasma TV with a full entertainment system and can be transformed into a private cinema for after-hours movie sessions. The spacious formal dining area can comfortably fit up to 10 guests. Naseem’s full-beam master suite is located forward on the main deck and is beautifully finished in cream with a nice contrast of wood veneer shades. The suite offers guests a private lounge and vanity area overlooking the ocean and a bathroom finished in marble.Exterior-wise the yacht offers multiple lounges, dining spaces and a forward-facing spa pool - perfect for onboard socialising, enjoying panoramic ocean views and relaxing in the sunshine.
September 21, 2020
The classic Benetti yacht Hidalgo got seriously damaged by the fire on September 15 in morning. The yacht fire was spotted at the Muggiano shipyard close to La Spezia in the region of Liguria where Hidalgo was hauled out for refit works.
“A dense column of smoke” was created by the fire and was “visible from a considerable distance”, as the local news portal "Liguria Nautica" reported. Main and upper deck of the vessel got severely damaged, however the fireguards were on time to prevent the fire from spreading elsewhere, and no injuries were reported. The cause of the fire still remains unclear. Designed for long-distance cruising, the yacht was delivered in Viareggio in 1968 and got last refitted in 2012. The vessel was previously known as Mirabella. (Photos: Giusppe Orru)
September 19, 2020
The new Ferretti Yachts 500 are the winners in the “Best Interior Design” category, whilst the Pershing
7X and CRN M/Y 62m Voice won in their “Best Exterior Design” categoriesCannes, September 16, 2020 – The harmonious number three is the number of major prizes taken by Ferretti Group at the World Yachts Trophies 2020, the prestigious seasonal event in yachting organised by SG Publications, for undeniably perfect style and design.The ceremony took place last Saturday, on September 12, in Cannes - on the beach of the luxurious InterContinental Carlton, - and was attended by guests and business insiders.Ferretti Group's boats that feature innovative technology and design, along with inimitable Italian style in all aspects, deservedly won three
awards.These are the Awards assigned to the boats: - Ferretti Yachts 500: Best Interior Design Trophy, 45 to 64-foot category (13.70-19.50 meters); - Pershing 7X: Best Exterior Design Trophy, 64 to 80-foot category (19.50-24 meters);- CRN M/Y 62m Voice: Best Exterior Design Trophy, 164 to 270-foot category (50-82 meters)
Ferretti Group continues to grow and will be announcing many important novelties in the coming months.Ferretti Group shows sustainable growth and is going to announce a lot of interesting novelties in the near future.(Press release and photos provided by Ferretti Group Web News)
September 18, 2020
Sunreef Yachts has revealed a 40 metre catamaran explorer concept. The yard adds an unstoppable explorer concept to the shipyard’s range of luxury catamarans. The 40M Sunreef Power is a versatile multihull craft dedicated to discovering new horizons. Her propulsion options allow for transoceanic range and solid performance in rough seas.Blending elegance and modern technology, the 40M Sunreef Power can be heavily customized to match ambitious navigation plans. The extended aft deck houses a launching crane, a 7m tender, two jet skis and storage for a variety of water toys. With the hydraulic aft platform lowered, guests can enjoy a full-beam private beach.The superyacht’s 13,34m beam provides for immense living areas totaling 654m² with accommodation spread across three decks. Custom features available for this concept include a playroom with a self-leveling pool table, a steam room or a master suite with a private fold-out balcony.⠀Alfresco relaxation areas include a large sun lounge with a spa pool surrounded by oversized sunpads and a bar as well as a vast bow terrace.
September 10, 2020
If you could combine rock star level partying with down-to-earth innovative design, what kind of superyacht would you end up with? Meet Project FG (Freddy Gump), a Feadship design created for the fictional combination of Freddy Mercury and Forrest Gump. It is the latest design to be revealed from the “Carte Blanch Exclusives” archives.⠀The 109-metre Project FG came to life during the Feadship Brokers Course in 2019. Together with the Feadship design team from Studio De Voogt, the invited brokers created a design for a wild – but down to earth – Freddy Gump. In a few days’ time, Project FG was born as a technically feasible design that allows for wild partying at night and peaceful relaxation during daytime.More than 200 people can party in the outdoor beach club. Hidden from the outside world, FG includes a mysterious hidden club in the bow of the yacht for exclusive private gatherings.Marsha Van Buitenen and Jan Schaffers in conversation. Credit: FeadshipFeadship sales director Marsha Van Buitenen says:“The group wanted a character that embodied extremes. They thought about a client that one hand has a party attitude but on the other is very down to earth as well. They combined a fictional character and a real character to dream up the client – for the down to earth side, it was Forest Gump, and for the wilder side, it was Freddie Mercury. With that, Freddie Gump as born.”On the aft deck there is a huge outdoor beach club, which is four times larger than Feadship designed “Savannah”. This beach club accommodates parties of up to 300 people while a panoramic piano lounge on the upper deck acts as the heart of the superyacht and the meeting point of the two personalities – a place that both Freddie Mercury and Forrest Gump could retire to as dusk falls and from where the rest of the yacht design branches out into the individual elements of each character.Other unique design elements of Project FG include a pop-up table tennis court on the tip of the bow that features a glass tube that “pops up” at the push of a button and encloses the table-tennis table so that the players are protected from the effects of the wind.One particular design feature that certainly caters to the rockstar inspirations of Freddie Mercury is the hidden club for where the really crazy parties happen – even crazier than those happening on the aft deck. Guests are not given directions on how to get there but instead have to find a hidden door past an engine in the superyacht’s belly.While Project FG Freddie Gump has yet to find an owner, the technically feasible Feadship design is still open for the kind of owner with an appreciation for wild nights of partying like Mercury and peaceful days of relaxation.Farouk Nefzi, Feadship marketing and brand director, says:There are so many future concepts coming out, but they are simply designed for 50 years from now. That too easy. Everybody can dream but to create something using technology that's applicable today, if you just have the will to do it, that's what we're showcasing. We feel like we can bring some joy to people's life by showcasing the possibilities that we are able to do right now. If you look at these designs, they trigger people to move forward and leverage on the existing technology. We want to showcase what is possible and not be dominated by the generics of this industry. It's very easy to make baby steps into what the next stage of yachting should be. We think we could really speed up the process if we find clients ready and wanting to invest in this.
September 9, 2020